Automatic test equipment manufacturers are heading in the direction of providing instrumentation that does not incorporate a video display on the instrumentation. One such form factor that typically does not utilize a display is LXI (LAN eXtensions for Instrumentation). The removal of the display from each instrument in a large rack, or the initial and intentional fabrication of one or more instruments without a display, provides several advantages including, for example, a reduction in costs for the instrumentation, a reduction in space requirements for the instrumentation on the rack, a reduction in power consumption since there is no display which requires power, and a unified look to the instrumentation.
When a user wants or needs a display, test equipment manufacturers typically offer a real-time video output as an option to which a display monitor may be connected. Thus, for every instrument providing a video output and needing a display, there would be a dedicated display. This results in the presence of multiple displays in the automatic test equipment.
The same situation arises in modern homes wherein there are several entertainment devices which generate output signals having both a video component and an audio component for a video monitor or display. As such, the home would include multiple displays, one for each entertainment device, possibly leading to clutter in the home or the end user needing to manually disconnect and connect cables each time a different device is used. Moreover, as connectivity standards change, newer video displays, i.e., televisions/monitors, have only limited connections for older home entertainment devices which could prevent all of the older home entertainment devices from being connected simultaneously to the newer television/monitor. This would require the homeowner to continually change the connections to the television/monitor when each home entertainment device is used.